I know we've really exhausted the comments regarding FNTV and in particular, this "reality show". Butttt...I keep seeing Adam Gettler (sp?) on Big Daddy's house where he acts like a neophite in the food world as Big Daddy's dumb sidekick.named Bro. Adam has his own show (semi-interesting). I smell something legal going on.... Maybe Adam saying the competition was fixed? Meanwhile, Big Daddy's House stinks, yet he's showing up on other FN shows. I'm a naturally curious person, but the 'behind the scenes' marketers for this show have a definite agenda & probably know who they will select before round one. Anyone have any knowledge or hunches?

Well, it's East vs. West this year for the Show. The Ravens and Eagles got plowed down in the middle of the road. JUST KIDDING! If you follow football, you will know that all 4 teams earned their place in the NFC and AFC finals and the Superbowl. These were probably the most knuckle-biting match-ups we've seen in awhile. I digress. Is anyone willing to pony-up a REAL food item to an SE'r for the winning team? Obviously, I'm Steelers (going for the 6-pack!) I will send 2 pounds of Isaly's Chipped Chopped Ham and BBQ sauce to a Serious Eater who is routing for the Cards. In return, what will you S.Westerners wager?

Iced tea is my beverage of choice. I don't drink coffee or colas. For some reason, I am unable to brew a drinkable pitcher of iced tea. I don't use loose tea: usually Luzianne.

I have used glass pitchers, plastic pitchers, you name it. I have steeped the tea for varying amounts of time (I like it strong). I've added fresh lemon and sweetener before refrigerating AND I have tried adding lemon and sweetener for each glass that I pour.

My complaint: EVERY time I make it, under varying circumstances, it ends up cloudy and unappetizing. This is demoralizing, considering I can make pretty much anything except tapioca from scratch and iced tea. Any and all help would be appreciated. I need a caffeine buzz.

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With the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals vying for the SHOW, who wants to put their food where their mouth is??? I'm willing to cough up a Pittsburgh specialty dish to a Ravens fan if they win next week. No kidding...made from scratch specialty. You other two birds (Eagles and Cardinals - LOL!) can do the same thing. If we're lucky enough to make it to the Superbowl, our wager must increase a notch. Who's game?

I've been enjoying this blog for almost a year now, but I'm a complete dunce when it comes to utilizing features that people refer to in their comments. For instance, how do you access other people's profiles? How do you email someone or find out if that person would like to email? Where do you find the contests and how do you follow-up to see who won? Many of you will think this post is redundant, but I truly enjoy my time here, and want to take advantage of all the features available.
Thanks in advance for bringing me up to speed.

Pittsburgh here. Anyone interested in getting together? We could do drinks, or diners or hidden treasure restaurants. Sky's the limit.

After reading posts last fall about honeycrisp apples, I had to try them. Now I'm addicted. I spend more on honeycrisps these days than I do for some meats. Lately, I've noticed that they're not quite as juicy and the peels are a little tougher. Is there a "prime" season for them? Are they available year-round, but just not as good during certain seasons? Please help. I've tried some other types of apples, but they come up short. I need to feed my addiction.

Adam Gertler (sp), former loser on the NFNS got his own show on FN as predicted. "I Work for Food" premieres later this month. The premise sounds lame (he milks a goat to get cheese???), but he probably sued them because, clearly, the fix was in for Big Daddy. It sounds like a rehash of "How'd that Get on My Plate". I know, I know...I need to change the channel. I watch 2 shows for enjoyment and some out of morbid curiosity. Anywho...FN 2009 is chock-full of faux reality cooking competitions. Consider me your own early warning system for FN. Guy Fieri got yet ANOTHER show this season. That's reason enough to switch channels.

My weekend hunter/husband got an 8 point buck last week. I have 40 lbs. of (shudder) plain ol' venison chops and steaks in my freezer. As I understand it, I'm getting 20 more lbs. of sausage next week (venison mixed with pork). I've never tasted venison that I like. (Even when it's been soaked in alcohol and braised.) Maybe I don't have a good recipe. I'm told that this thing ate corn and apples, so it should be tasty (shudder again!) I don't want to disappoint hubby and would like to cook a part of it that I could make palatable and not taste like road kill. Any advice/recipes would be welcome.

I know this show has been discussed in this forum previously, but I had to comment on last night's Vegas show. When Chef invited his crew to his home for a party, I turned to mush. What an inspiration! It really isn't about the cooking. He has inspired these kids to set and strive for personal goals. He's got them thinking into the future instead of dwelling on the hopelessness of their current situations (except perhaps with Shantel). He had me in tears with his comments about his family and his crew. It made me want to open my checkbook and contribute, albeit small, a donation to further his work. Since this first season is winding down, what are your opinions on the show, the Chef and his tactics?

My 17 year old son has been lifting weights, running and taking dietary supplements like protein powders and vitamins before and after his daily regime. I encourage him to eat nutritious foods as his primary nutritional source as opposed to the supplements. He doesn't understand that until those pesky testosterone hormones kick into action, he won't get his six -pack that he is killing for, even if he eats my veal parmiagiana!

His female counterparts in the high school cafeteria just don't eat....at all. They might sneak a piece of fruit and hide it under the table. But at all costs - NO ONE WILL SEE THEM EATING.

How have you dealt with teen eating peculiarities personally, or if you have credentials in this arena, we would surely appreciate your feedback.

All of the recent discussions on threads regarding bread have made me want to try just one more time to make a decent loaf of bread. I am yeast-impaired. In other words, I make awesome zucchini and banana breads but have never been able to make a yeast-based bread come out right. I even bought a bread machine, and that disappointed as well. I broke down today and bought some active dry yeast. I will take one more shot tomorrow. I would like to make a nice loaf of crusty Italian. Any advice or good recipes? I don't really have a warm spot to let the dough rise. Will that be a problem? Thanks for the help.

Both of the above new series debuted today on FN. Giada's show was more of the same, sans cleavage (sorry guys), though we did get a look at her baby daughter.

Ina's show was great as expected. She even gave us a little food porn. She is having others test-drive her latest recipes. Good ol' T.R.(back again) tested today's offerings. Anyone else catch either of these shows and are you giving thumbs up or down?

Tonight we're expecting our first frost, so I dutifully pulled the 30 some remaining green tomatoes from my one prolific plant. We're not fans of green tomatoes, so to ripen them, someone told me to wrap each one in newspaper and stick them under my bed. This sounds kinda like voodoo to me. What magical thing will happen under my bed and how do I know they're ripening since they're wrapped in newspaper? Alternate ripening methods would also be appreciated.

I recently received some restaurant quality Tramontina cookware, but I can't seem to find info. on the specific pieces I have. There are 4, tri-ply clad, 18/10, 16cm pans with two riveted handles and 3, tri-ply clad, 18/10, 20cm pans with two riveted handles. All are magnetic induction and were made in Brazil. What are the advantages of tri-ply clad cookware? I plan on using it on a gas cooktop. Can I do that, even though it is magnetic induction? Also, is this considered high-end cookware and is it non-stick? I don't even know the cost of my pieces (no lids). Any info you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

In light of all the financial and economic news, I've made a unilateral decision to slowly change my home menus. Hubby and son are not happy about this at all. They want their ribeyes, pork chops, and the rest of the carnivore food festival that has become part of my cooking style, albeit not a very healthy one. Expensive cuts of meat will be the exception, not the rule. Does anyone have ideas on how to downsize the meal budget without resorting to beans, tofu and (aaaargh) ground meat? If I can "sneak" some healthy stuff into a traditional meatatarian menu, I will be indebted for life. All ideas are welcome!

I just popped into FN.com to grab a recipe out of my recipe box and got a little blown away. I was greeted with a very colorful, appetizing home page. I didn't have time to thoroughly surf it, but it appears to much more user-friendly and interesting. My eyes popped open when I saw a recipe box on the home page entitled "Serious Eats". Under the header were a list of recipes. Did I miss something? Is there a collaberation underway? I went back in to look at it more closely (15 minutes later) and it had disappeared. Maybe I'm seeing things, but I doubt it. Anyone else see the box in question? What's your overall opinion of the new site?

I KNOW I must be doing something wrong, but this is the fifth time I've invested some time to create a post with a lengthy recipe, only to try and edit it in the preview area mistakenly and it disappears. Can it be retrieved somehow? I just tried to post a spice cake recipe in response to a request. I was so absorbed in making sure the recipe was accurate that I hit backspace twice in the preview area and poof! Gone! Is there a way to track it down? Thanks for your help.

My heart goes out to those of you who have suffered through this latest slam of Mother Nature. I'm in Pgh. and my plants blew off their stands (boo-hoo) but goes to show how far-reaching these storms can affect people. No power in a large part of the city for going on 24 hours. What can we do as the SEers to help in a meaningful way?

I turn into a little kid again when Halloween approaches. I'm thrilled that this year, my 17 year-old son wants to throw a costume party for his friends, but he wants the food to be "cool". This translates to something not too campy, but more along the adult appetizer line, just jazzed a bit for the holiday. I'm planning a simultaneous adult party in the garage to give the kids their privacy. Any food ideas that could go both ways would be welcome. Also, any spooky decorating ideas? Sky's the limit.

If you're an Olympic junkie like me, I've not really paid a lot of attention to my meal planning. After being reminded of all of the wonderful cuisines around the world, I have the urge to get back into the kitchen and get creative. What will you be cooking?...

My favorite local Italian restaurant makes a lemon cream sauce that is to die for! They serve it over broiled Virginia Spots and scrod, chicken romano and veal romano. It's so good that I order "a little scrod with my sauce". Despite repeated attempts, the owner won't disclose his recipe. It has the consistency of bernaise/hollandaise and tastes buttery/creamy with lemon in the background. It's not tart at all. I think there might be some heavy cream in it.

I tried to replicate it without success. Mine was way too lemony and it separated. Does anyone out there have a recipe or some pointers for creating my own?

I try to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet 51 weeks out of the year. But when that vacation week rolls around, all bets are off! I MUST have frozen custard each and every day when at the beach or it's not vacation. I probably consume more eggs in a week than I do the rest of the year.

Anyone else have an obsession with a particular food during vacation?

When will the madness end? FN is recruiting 4 chefs from the New York tri-state area for yet another cooking competition. The link was listed in the Hungry Girl newsletter today at http://casting.citylightstv.com/chefcastingapply.htm

I didn't try too hard, but couldn't find a reference to it on the FN web site. I guess I looked out of morbid curiosity. It sounds like a cheap sort of knock-off of NFNS. Any bets on their motivation for this one?

Just was wondering what happened to the threads about Bacon Salt. I ordered the product and it rocks. I was curious to see how the SE posters used it in recipes. They had many suggestions, but I can't recall them.

Or was this post a no-no because it promoted a specific product? I'm relatively new to SE, so I guess I need to learn what constitutes an acceptable topic and/or threads.

Thanks in advance for your clarification.

Well, it's East vs. West this year for the Show. The Ravens and Eagles got plowed down in the middle of the road. JUST KIDDING! If you follow football, you will know that all 4 teams earned their place in... More

Iced tea is my beverage of choice. I don't drink coffee or colas. For some reason, I am unable to brew a drinkable pitcher of iced tea. I don't use loose tea: usually Luzianne. I have used glass pitchers, plastic... More

First I would like to say that I have missed the intelligent, witty banter that occurs on Serious Eats. I have been away for far too long. I am hoping to rectify that as of now. Now that's off my... More

I've been enjoying this blog for almost a year now, but I'm a complete dunce when it comes to utilizing features that people refer to in their comments. For instance, how do you access other people's profiles? How do you... More